Creamy Herb Pasta

A quick, easy pasta dish with creamy herb sauce!

Hello and happy 2023! I'm attempting to see if I can get myself on a posting schedule. My goal is to maybe post once a week and go from there. I think I only posted 3 recipes last year, so I'm already a third of the way there :)

I know everyone is now very anti-words in recipe posts, but I'm going to throw some out there because I've been so MIA. I started my career in mid-2021 as an accountant for tv/film production companies at a local firm. After 14 years as a stay-at-home mom, it was a huge transition. I still struggle with trying to juggle everything but I'm trying to cut myself slack and really work on my time management. There are a lot of times where I forget to thaw meat that I need and I have to say, my 2022 birthday gift was an Instant Pot and holy baloney - that has been a lifesaver.

This recipe is a great recipe for chaotic nights. I really love when things can just be thrown together and it's very simple ingredients. I feel like you could switch up the vegetable if you really wanted to.

Ultimate Bangers and Mash

A classic British dish with the most amazing onion gravy ever!

I really cannot express how much I love this recipe. But I can start with the fact that I don't like bratwursts and I don't like gravy and I reluctantly made this because I felt like it was something my family would enjoy. I ate brats. I ate them and liked them! The onion gravy is probably my all-time favorite gravy and one I would eat with so many different meals. It's incredible.

Chicken, Bacon, and Brussels Sprouts Mac & Cheese

There is so much flavor packed into this great macaroni and cheese! Chicken and bacon...and 3 kinds of cheeses!

I'm still working on getting my family to like brussels sprouts and I think I'm at the point where if it's shredded, they are fine. So this recipe was a keeper. Also I will say that I love the three cheese combo in this. Original recipe called for swiss but it's the one cheese none of us like, so I always replace it with mozzarella. I think gruyere or gouda would be good too.

Chicken Madeira

Sauteed chicken pan-basted with a sweet wine reduction - topped with cheese and broiled. Seriously fantastic.

Alright guys, here is another delicious recipe that originally has mushrooms in it. The only one in our immediate family who likes mushrooms is my daughter, Cami. Nick and I will eat mushrooms if they are small and mostly on pizza, but we will not eat them when they are in a large quantity at all. So for this recipe, the mushrooms went away. I thought this was a great recipe with a wine glaze type deal going on. You are supposed to use Madeira, but I used a local sweet white wine that we had on hand. I love the asparagus with this and the broiled cheesy topping. The original recipe noted to serve this with mashed potatoes, but honestly do your potatoes any which way. You can't go wrong with a baked potato or roasted potatoes!

Slow Cooker Ropa Vieja

This slow cooked Cuban-style braised beef will make your house smell insanely good!

Ropa vieja is Cuban braised beef - I'm not sure why all of a sudden I put so many Cuban foods (hopefully authentic) on my meal plan, but I really enjoyed trying a new cuisine.  This beef was so tender and packed full of flavor. It was served up as recommended with white rice and black beans - definitely suited to pair with the braised beef. The house smelled insanely good while this slow cooked in the crockpot!

White Vanilla Layer Cake

This stunning, classy layer cake has strawberry frosting made from fresh strawberries and a second frosting made with champagne.

At this point, I'm sure I've probably said this at least a dozen times, but one of my favorite things to do is make birthday cakes/desserts for my family members. I usually let the kids choose what kind of cake they want and like to surprise the adults (although I've begun to ask what the adults want and then pick something from there that fits). My mother-in-law always gets the fanciest of cakes and that seems pretty fitting with her nickname being Fancy. I chose this vanilla layer cake because it has champagne in the cake and the frosting, as well as fresh strawberries in the frosting. It looked so so pretty.

Copycat Chicken Bryan

This restaurant favorite has seasoned grilled chicken topped with goat cheese, roasted tomatoes, and basil and drizzled in a luscious lemon butter sauce

This recipe has multiple parts to it and it does seem a little daunting, but if you time everything and read through the recipe a few times, you'll be good to go. I did include little tips for timing before the specific instruction set for different parts, so it's a little less overwhelming. The many parts come together and make this meal astounding. I have never been to Carrabba's and I'll be honest and say that the name made me think it was a Mexican food place. I was surprised to find it was an Italian grill restaurant (and I definitely want to go now). I am up for any recipe that has tomatoes and basil at this point. They all seem like winners. This recipe is different in the grill seasoning - that is one of my favorite spice mixes I've ever used - especially on chicken - and the recipe uses goat cheese rather than mozzarella. I'm still relatively new to goat cheese, but I do enjoy it thoroughly. Last but not least, you have the amazing wonderful lemon butter sauce that is too good it should be illegal.

Chicken & Dumplings

Hearty comfort food with biscuit-like dumplings that are so tender they may fall apart on you when you scoop them into the bowl and prevent you from getting a picture that proves you made chicken and dumplings!

Today is a rarity. I'm sharing a recipe for a food that I don't really eat. I also have to mention that it does not look like dumplings at all, it looks like a mess, but I decided to post anyways because this is a wonderful recipe. The dumplings didn't stay in separate biscuit form, but sometimes the weirdest looking foods are the best foods (see: tatortot hotdish). This is a very hearty, stick-to-your-ribs recipe. It has the best savory herbs that are just so perfect for colder months.

I personally think I may have made my dumplings slightly too big and that's why when I tried to remove them from the pot, they basically just fell apart. Regardless of how this looks, make this recipe. You have to. I don't even like chicken and dumplings and I was all about this recipe.

I don't get a lot of mean comments, but I honestly expect someone to come here raging at how this looks. I'm ready for you haha

Mutti's Sauerbraten

This German-style red wine and clove marinated beef roast is absolute perfection with gravy on top!

When we were introduced to German food, my family fell in love. I've been trying to find authentic German recipes online and I believe this pot roast is pretty authentic. Sauerbraten is a marinated roast and I have to say that it turned out so tender and the spice mix was incredible. I will also say that as a child, I really didn't eat gravy and I still really don't care for it. However, for some reason, the recipes I've been making lately with gravy that goes on the meat have really won me over. This one in particular was rich but really brought out the flavors of the marinade - which by the way has red wine in it. So it's really the best. You can serve this up with sauerkraut or red cabbage or potato dumplings. We did buttered gnocchi, which is Italian, but that's what I wanted with it. :)

Grilled Chicken and Bacon Pizza with Garlic Cream Sauce

Pizza has never tasted so good with this garlicky sauce, grilled chicken, and bacon!

I don't make a lot of chicken pizza simply because a lot of the bases are ranch and the boys will not eat ranch period. This pizza recipe caught my eye because of the garlic cream sauce. I am definitely one of those people who puts 8 to 10 cloves worth of garlic into most recipes because I love garlic. Thankfully, Nick and the big kids do too. You can never go wrong with bacon too, so I knew this would be a keeper. I opted for the wine for the sauce and used a pinot grigio and it was fantastic.

Prosecco Infused Moist Vanilla Cupcakes

Celebrate any holiday with a little bubbly in your cupcakes!

I am so happy that I'm finally getting around to posting these amazing vanilla cupcakes. I had the idea last year to make wine-infused cupcakes for my mother-in-law's birthday. I didn't really find a recipe to make, so I went to one of my favorite dessert blogs to get a solid vanilla cupcake recipe. The cupcakes and frosting alone are fabulous. The frosting in particular is one of my all-time favorites. It's so creamy and just the right amount of sweetness (for me).

The wine part wasn't hard to figure out from there. My mother-in-law prefers dry wine and she likes white wine, so I bought some cutesy heart pipettes from Amazon and filled them up with this Cupcake Prosecco. Cupcake for the cupcakes :) They turned out so well and the prosecco was a perfect compliment to the cupcakes. I will definitely have to do these again.

Slow Cooker Pork Roast

It doesn't get better than a slow cooked pork roast with fresh herbs, veggies, and wine!

Pork roast is one of my favorite Sunday dinner meals. I'm not sure why we have pork roast on Sundays only, but that's just kind of the way it turns out. I typically don't make just a regular pork roast - it's usually covered in some kind of glaze or wrapped in bacon. I thought it would be nice to make a more traditional recipe with no frills, so to speak. This one utilizes fresh herbs and white wine, which I just adore. There is so much flavor to be added by these two ingredients. I also loved that I could add veggies and slow cook them with the roast. This pork roast turned out unbelievably moist and flavorful. I will absolutely be making it over and over again.

Chicken a la King

This comfort meal is ready in under 30 minutes and is made in one pot!

I was introduced to chicken a la king in middle school during Wednesday night church. We did youth group and then some ladies in the church made dinner for us. I always looked forward to chicken a la king because it was so good. Stick to your ribs, warm you from your toes type of comfort food. I made this chicken a la king sans mushrooms because 3 out of the 4 of us eating it don't eat mushrooms. We also served it with biscuits instead of over egg noodles because Nick is doing a keto diet. This is such a quick meal and it's made in one pot, so it's a really fantastic QUICK comfort food recipe.

Ree's Spaghetti

This amazing homemade spaghetti sauce can be made in bulk for freezing and is simmered for over an hour to really marry the flavors.

I'm not sure if I've ever outright stated it on my blog, but I know I have put it on a "get to know me" template on my Instagram stories...Spaghetti is my favorite meal. Ever. I have tried countless homemade spaghetti sauce recipes and I do like most of them, but I am kind of picky on what I look for in a spaghetti sauce. I don't like a sauce that's too tomatoey and I like a very meaty, thick sauce. Don't at me with that runny sauce. I like lots of herb taste - especially basil and oregano. I was so happy with this spaghetti sauce. It had the right balance of everything and it also makes a load of sauce. I halved the original recipe and still had a ton leftover.

Italian Pizza Burgers

Find the recipe on The Recipe Jackpot.

Shepherd's Pie Potato Skins #SundaySupper

Your family will be on pins and needles waiting for this meal to hit the dinnertable!

If y'all have been around for a while, you know I participate in Sunday Supper often. What is Sunday Supper? It's a movement started by Isabel Laessig to inspire others to spend more time around the family table. Each week, a community of bloggers shares recipes from a particular theme. This month marks the 6th anniversary of the very first virtual Sunday Supper event and it's also Sunday Supper Month. Take the pledge and join the Sunday Supper Movement to bring back family dinners!

Since it is Sunday Supper Month, today's event is SUNDAY SUPPER RECIPES. These recipes are ones that may take a little longer to make and the whole family waits in anticipation to all gather around the dinner table and share together. This fits me so well because Sundays are days I have more time to make dinner and tend to make more time-consuming feasts on those days.

Today, I am sharing these Shepherd's Pie Potato Skins. On the surface, they sound like they would be an appetizer, but they definitely are a main course meal. It's definitely a different take on shepherd's pie where the potatoes become the vessel and they aren't in a casserole dish. I feel all the elements are very classic shepherd's pie but it is all about that crispy potato skin!

Jaegarschnitzel

This classic German dish served with a traditional mushroom gravy and topped with bacon

I've already posted two recipes for schnitzel on the blog and there is probably no end in sight. I have loved each recipe I've tried for different reasons and this one is definitely not any different. Jaegar sauce contains mushrooms. I will say that I do not like mushrooms, but I love the flavor the mushrooms give the jaegar sauce. I picked around the mushrooms. Mostly it's a texture thing, not a flavor thing. Regardless, we loved this schnitzel recipe and loved the different seasonings it had. As always, we served ours up with potatoes (wedges in this case) and lemon slices.

Slow Cooker Bolognese

If you want to jazz up spaghetti night, this Slow Cooker Bolognese is the perfect way to make a fancy meal out of regular spaghetti.

Since the first time I tried bolognese, I have been obsessed. It's fancy spaghetti sauce and it's what I was looking for when I started trying to make homemade spaghetti sauce. It's bold, rich, and flavorful. This particular bolognese has a good dry red wine in it - I used a cabernet sauvignon and it went really well with the sauce. The wine adds such a depth to the overall recipe that cannot be done with beef broth.

Peach Blackberry Sangria #FantasticalFoodFight

Welcome to another Food Fight! Fantastical Food Fight is a group of food bloggers who will get a theme or ingredient each month and make some sort of variation for it. It could be traditional or nontraditional and can be found in a cookbook, on a blog, or be a blogger's own creation! For more details, check out this page.

It's time again for another Food Fight and this month's theme is RUM! Today is National Rum Day and that is how the theme was chosen. The Food Fighters were not given any particular type of dish so long as it contains rum or rum flavoring. I have to admit that I struggled a little with what I wanted to make because I don't have a lot of recipes saved with rum in them and I don't make a lot of food with rum. I did have a page from the September 2016 Food Network Magazine that was for a Mix and Match Sangria recipe. So the amounts of different ingredients are from that, but the choices were mine alone.

I have had sangria once and it was many years ago, right before I got pregnant with Mason. I had a peach sangria at TGIFriday's. It was so delicious and I hands-down knew I wanted peaches in this sangria paired with white wine and white rum. Nick wanted to do all berries, so I compromised with blackberries going into the mix as well. The recipe called for superfine sugar or light brown sugar and I used vanilla sugar that I had purchased for Kasekuchen. This is a pretty strong sangria and I personally would love to try it with a sweeter wine because I am not a dry wine aficionado. Maybe a tad less rum, although everyone else loved it. The peach and blackberry with lemon was delicious though!

The cups before the Sprite was added...

Lemon Sage Chicken

A fancied up fried chicken recipe with tons of bright lemony flavor and delicious sage to top it off.

Sage is one of my favorite spices, but I don't use it enough and I don't know why! I absolutely could not wait to try this recipe out because it also has lemon with that sage. I was interested in the fried sage leaves, not sure how that would turn out, but it was fantastic! The breaded chicken with lemon wedges and fried sage leaves with a little sauce to top it off...was all so wonderful.